Phantom Pains
by thephoenixblade
Summary: "I struggle to my feet. I have to escape before the fire burns me alive. I take off not knowing where I'm going so long as it's away from the flames.I see a massive inferno up ahead; clearly this building is much larger than the others. My feet skid to a stop and panic finally overwhelms me. I stare in shock at the visage of a burning DWMA."
1. An Introduction

**A/N: This is a reupload of a story I started a while ago. But it seemed like no one was reading it so I lost interest. This first chapter is more of a prologue than anything else. The real action starts in the second chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Soul Eater and slenderman don't belong to me.**

It is a cold, dark night in a small Belgian town. A young boy walks along a well known yet lonely path through the woods. The boy has traveled the path many times during the day when the sun shines clearly, but never has he dared to walk it at night. All of the children in the town know that the forest is the worst place to be at night as it is haunted by a deadly being, or so the rumors say. But this young boy was late for supper and the forest path was the quickest way home. So he set aside his fears and set out on his way home unaware of the menacing presence stalking him.

The sound of distant branches breaking startles the boy. He looks back, peering through the darkness with the feeble light of his lantern. "H-hello? Is anyone there?" He calls out. The chirps of crickets are the only sounds which answer him. Finding nothing the boy turns around to continue his trek home. But not five minutes later he again hears the sound of breaking twigs and this time footsteps accompany them.

The boy turns around again and again sees nothing. Wait, is his mind playing tricks on him? That dark tree certainly wasn't there before. He backtracks and moves closer to examine the mysterious tree. As he gets closer the boy comes to a dreadful realization. The tree is not a tree but an enormously tall man with no face. He is as tall as the surrounding trees and dressed in a suit as black as the blackest night sky. Protruding from his back are twisted branch- like tentacles that make him blend in with rest of the forest.

"AAAAHHHHH!" The child screams and tries to run away. But the man, no, the creature simply stretches out his enormous arm and grabs hold of the boy's coat. The pull on his coat chokes him and he gags momentarily. "Help, someone! Help me!" The child screams as the monster lifts him up into the air. The lantern lies on the ground casting grim shadows on the beast's nonexistent face.

The creature takes two steps with his incredibly long legs, his arm remaining stationary in the air. The boy is screaming in terror as the monster brings him up to his head. The two stare at each other for a moment before the skin on the creature's face begins to shift. It looks as though he is flexing his jaws to a mouth that it isn't there. Suddenly the skin where his mouth should be begins to stretch and tear. The skin stretches until it snaps and reveals a menacing mouth full of razor sharp teeth and a worm like tongue. "No! No! AHHHH!" The boy struggles in the creature's grasp as he is slowly lifted into the mouth. The child closes his eyes, tears stream down his face as he awaits his doom.

But he never feels the piercing pain that he expected. Slowly opening his eyes he sees the creature has had its arm cut cleanly in half. In his state of terror the boy didn't realize that he was dropped to the ground. The boy looks up past the monster and sees a silhouette standing on a tree branch, outlined against the light of the sickly grinning moon. The figure appears to be a young woman, he can tell from the pigtails in her hair. In her hands she holds a large scythe, behind her a coat of some sort flaps gently in the night air.

"Slenderman," The creature twists its head like an owl, upon hearing its name to look up at the woman.

"You have strayed from the path of humanity and your soul has become a Kishin egg." The would be victim takes this opportunity to escape and flees the scene as the Slenderman creature is preoccupied with the mysterious savior.

"As a student of the DWMA it is my duty to claim your soul in the name of Lord Death and stop you from devouring human souls." The Scythe meister, Maka Albarn, shifts her weapon, Soul Eater, in her hands preparing for the upcoming battle. Slenderman grins maniacally as it grows a new arm in place of the one it lost. Suddenly The Slenderman lashes out with his tentacles, slicing the branch Maka is standing on off of the tree. But Maka was prepared for this, and in a split second launched off the branch before the attack landed. She twirls and flips gracefully in the air, the moonlight reflecting off of Soul's blade. Then as she begins to descend she swings her scythe downwards attempting to slice at the kishin.

The kishin however, quickly slithers away from the attack before it lands leaving Maka to lodge Soul into the dirt below. She quickly loosens Soul and jumps back narrowly avoiding Slenderman's retaliatory strike. Slenderman opens his mouth and screams, unleashing a distorted sound like radio or TV static. This temporarily distracts Maka as she winces from the terrible noise. The kishin seizes this moment to extend its arm and punch Maka into a nearby tree. Maka swiftly recovers however and manages to slice off an incoming tentacle before moving forward and chopping off more of Slenderman's deadly extensions.

But to her disappointment the creature simply regenerates the injured appendages like a hydra would its lost heads. "Maka cutting off its limbs isn't going to work." Soul's image appears on the scythe blade having spoken for the first time since the battle started. "What do you suggest we do?" Maka dodges another strike from the kishin as she discusses battle strategies with her weapon. "Aim for its body, get in close and slice it in half." Soul replies. Maka nods and begins analyzing her opponent, timing herself to avoid the attacks.

Then she does a back flip, stops against a tree, and propels herself forward into the deadly maw of tentacles. She weaves in and out of the limbs all while running forward to her enemy. As she runs she increases her soul resonance with her weapon partner causing Soul's blade to glow a faint blue. As she comes within striking distance of her opponent, Maka jumps high into the air. "Witch Hunter!" she calls out and Soul's form turns into the familiar crescent shape they both know so well. His blade illuminates the dark woods with dazzling crystalline light. Maka swings Soul down diagonally and slices through Slenderman's thin torso with ease. Slenderman's body disperses and leaves behind only his glowing red soul. As Maka lands Soul turns back into his human form and stands beside his meister.

Soul walks forward, gently grabbing the egg shaped soul. "OM NOM NOM." He then proceeds to stuff the soul into his mouth and wolf it down hungrily, living up to his name. "Gross Soul, why did you make that sound?" Maka walks over carrying the discarded lantern in her hand. Soul smirked back at her the lantern light making his jagged smile seem more disturbing to anyone but Maka who has gotten used to her partner's peculiar teeth. "Trying to mix it up a little I guess. Black Star said it would sound funny if I did that whenever I ate a soul." Soul relaxes a bit and assumes his usual 'cool guy' pose, hands in his pockets and slouched back. "Well I think it just sounds gross."

"Oh yeah, well maybe I'll just do that from now on and make that noise whenever we collect a kishin egg."

"Why, so you can give Black Star the satisfaction of knowing that you did what he told you to?"

"… Touché." Maka giggles at his quick surrender before pointing her thumb back over her shoulder. "We should probably get back to that village and tell them we've slain their monster." Soul nods in agreement and the duo begins the walk back to the town.

**A/N: If you decided to read this chapter good for you! Anyone who leaves a review earns a virtual cookie! **


	2. The Phantom Weapon

**A/N: I should mention that this story takes place one year after the end of the anime. This chapter introduces the main villain. Read and Review please.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater**

"Maka, Maka say something! Maka come on you have to get up!" Soul is kneeling on the ground above his disabled meister; desperately shaking her in an attempt to rouse her to consciousness. The enemy kishin looms ever closer, his long, foreboding shadow cast by the streetlights drapes over the pair. The kishin walks slowly and deliberately towards the two, assured in its own victory. "Maka! Damn it why won't you get up?" Soul takes a nervous glance behind him at the figure. His arms hang loosely at his sides as he cackles maniacally. Soul hears a low moan and whips his head around to see Maka slowly opening her eyes. Maka, still sprawled out on the cold, hard concrete attempts to lift her head. "There you are. Come on we need to do something before this guy kills us." However Maka simply shakes her head. "I-I can't – my- my soul." Her voice comes out as barely more than a whisper. Fear grips Soul's face as he realizes that his partner is out of commission. But Soul puts on a brave face and turns to the kishin, who is just within striking distance, with his scythe arm at the ready. _This shouldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening._ As his death stares him in the eyes, Soul thinks back on how everything went wrong. It all started after they finished their last mission.

-Flashback-

"Ah, it's good to be home!" Soul exclaims while dropping his luggage on the living room couch. The weapon and meister pair has just returned to Death City after a week-long mission in Belgium. Maka walks past Soul, who is lounging on a chair, to her room where she begins unpacking. "Don't get too comfortable Soul! We still have to go to the Academy and hand in our mission report!" Maka shouts from her room. At this Soul puts on a grimace and groans. "Can't we do that later? We just got back for crying out loud." Maka walks out of her room and puts her hands on her hips as she stares Soul down. "No Soul we gotta report our success to Lord Death ASAP." Soul rolls his eyes and reaches for the TV remote but stops when he sees Maka pull out one of her infamous thickly spined books. "Man this is so uncool." Soul gets up with a groan and grabs the keys to his bike.

The ride to the Academy was quick and pleasant. Soul's bike screeched to a halt right outside the massive stairs of their school. "Yo Maka, Soul!" At hearing their names the weapon and meister pair looked up to see none other than Blackstar poised at the top of the large flight of stairs. Blackstar leaps acrobatically into the air and lands at the bottom next to Maka, Tsubaki follows behind on the steps. "Yo what's up dude?" Soul and Blackstar do their secret bro handshake greeting thing while Maka waves hello to Tsubaki.

"How did your mission go Maka?" Tsubaki asked. "It went good. Soul and I destroyed another kishin egg." The group of friends has started to walk together into the academy. "Yea it took us like a week to find the bastard." Soul griped. Blackstar, who walked in front of the group, grinned mischievously before he looked over his shoulder. "Sounds like you're losing your edge Maka. I thought you had that whole soul perception thing?" Maka pouted and crossed her arms. "Yea well he was hard to find; he blended in with the trees." Maka turned to face Tsubaki, a smile adorning her face once more.

"Anyway how have you two been making out?"

"Oh, you know Blackstar. We-!"

"We've beaten so many bad guys I can't even keep track!"

"Actually Blackstar you haven't collected a single kishin egg in the last three missions."

"Ah that's just details. The important thing is that I, Black*Star, am the greatest star of the school!"

The four friends continued down the hall until they had to go their separate ways. Soul and Maka reached the Death room soon after that. They walked inside the dimensional pocket that serves as Lord Death's home to find it empty save for the one tall mirror in the room. "Hello, Lord Death are you here?" The two looked around the room seeing no sign of the death god. Then a ripple appeared on the surface of the mirror from which Lord Death emerged. "Hello, hello! Nice to see ya! How ya doing?" Lord Death's cheery voice rang out through the vast room. Maka and Soul immediately stood straighter upon seeing the leader of the academy. "Meister Maka Albarn and weapon Soul Eater reporting sir." Maka gave a little salute to the Death god before relaxing and putting her hands behind her back.

"Yes hello. So how did the mission go? You two were gone for a pretty long time." Lord Death tilted his head to the side in a look of questioning. "We succeeded in destroying the kishin and obtaining his soul." Maka faltered at this point and scratched her head in embarrassment. "It just took a little while to find him is all." Lord Death nodded in approval. "You know Soul, you only have a few more kishin eggs and one witch soul to go before you can become a Death Sycthe, one of my weapons." Soul grinned and showed off his trademark shark-like teeth. "Yeah, I know, but if every mission takes as long as this one it'll still be a while before I can become a Death Scythe." Maka took on a look of annoyance and glared at her partner. "Well excuse me, but it's not like you were any help in finding that kishin!" Soul shrugged apathetically. "I'm not the one with soul perception remember." Maka's head looked like it was about to explode.

"Alright, settle down you two." Lord Death waved his large hands in a placating gesture. The partners begrudgingly let the issue drop before looking back at Lord Death. "Now speaking of other missions I do have another assignment for you, if you're up to the challenge that is." Maka's face perked up at this while Soul let out an exasperated sigh. "We just got back from a mission and you're sending us out again?" Soul questioned. "You don't have to take it if you don't want to Soul. It's your choice." Lord Death explained.

"I say we take it." Maka stated.

"Why?"

"Come on Soul, don't you wanna be a Death Scythe?" Maka cast a glance at Soul that was both questioning and daring. Soul replied with a frown. "Yeah, but what's the rush? Cool guys don't rush things." Maka rolled her eyes. "You do have another week until the mission starts." Lord Death spoke up. "See?" Maka tapped her foot impatiently. There was no way that Soul would win this argument so he agreed with a half-hearted 'fine' and crossed his arms. "Excellent, you will get the mission details downstairs. So I'll see you two later!" Maka and Soul bowed politely and turned to walk out.

As they walked away Lord Death waved goodbye. _This mission I'm sending them on is actually a fairly dangerous one._ Lord Death thought to himself as the young meister and weapon walked out. _The kishin egg they're going after is cunning and dangerous. He's managed to stay off of our radar for several months because he disposes of his victim's bodies and moves on to the next city. In fact the only reason we became aware of him is that I could sense the growing madness in his soul. _Lord Death turned around and stared into his tall, decorative mirror, admiring its smooth and clear surface. _But I'm sure they'll be fine. After all Maka was the one who defeated Asura practically by herself. _With his nerves settled Lord Death returned to his daily business of running the Academy.

The week had come and gone and Maka and Soul had found themselves on a rooftop at night in a rundown part of Houston, Texas. Maka stared out at the city while Soul sat against a nearby wall. "Do you sense his soul yet?" Soul asked. Maka shook her head in response. Soul sighed and proceeded to stand up. "A murderer who kills his victims in the middle of the night, he likes to use brute force by snapping their necks or suffocating them. He strikes in places where people wouldn't normally notice someone missing." Soul recapped the details given to them as he walked over to where Maka stood. "He always heads west after he kills his victims to the next city. Houston is the next biggest city going west from where he last struck so it would make sense that he attacks here next. But even so we haven't had any luck in finding him." Maka did not move or even acknowledge Soul as she concentrated on the city. Maka furrowed her brows, Soul took notice and asked what was wrong. "I sense a soul… that I think is his… but it'll take me a moment to pin him down." Maka stated.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" The sudden scream rang clear as day to the two students. "Forget about tracking his soul. Just follow that scream." Maka nodded and Soul transformed into his weapon state before Maka leaped off the roof in the direction of the scream. A few blocks away a hulking, brute of a man stood crouched over a man's body. The body had its neck at an odd angle indicating the cause of death. As the soul began to rise out of the body, the murderer heard the arrival of the academy students and turned to face them.

"Sam Manson aka the Midnight Mangler." Maka stared down the murderer her scythe poised to attack. The man named Manson stepped out of the darkness into the illuminating light of a street lamp. Manson was easily six feet tall and had huge muscled arms and toned legs. He wore a dark blue hooded jacket with the sleeves torn off and a pair of dirty black jeans. Underneath his hoodie he wore a grey undershirt. His hair reached his shoulders and was a tangled mess of dirty brown. The Mangler reached behind him and grabbed the soul of his latest victim. On his hands he wore a pair of fingerless gloves. "My reputation precedes me." He said with a gravelly voice. He then lifted the soul into his mouth and swallowed it whole. He stared back with sickening green eyes and grinned with a mouth full of crooked yellow teeth. "So I'm guessing you're from the Academy. Damn, Here I was thinking I was doing things smart." Manson chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.

"Your soul has become a kishin egg and must be destroyed. Prepare to die." Maka swung Soul around menacingly. "Ha ha ha ha, I don't think so. If anyone is dying it's gonna be you." The Mangler raised both of his hands and suddenly his shadow began to twist and dance in the light. Smoke rose from the shadow and surrounded him until his entire shadow was gone. "What the hell?" Soul's reflection appeared in the blade as he watched the black smoke begin to take a form. A black torso formed from the cloud with skinny arms and sharp claws. It had an angular head with red pupil-less eyes and pointed ears. These were the only facial features visible on the ghost like entity. Just as quickly as he appeared the black creature dissipated and flowed down to both of Manson's hands. Once there the smoke again took on a solid form. This time the smoke coalesced as a chain with a spiked metal ball at one end.

"What kind of weapon is that?" Soul asked. "It's called a morningstar." Maka replied.

"So little girl, are you ready to dance?"Manson asked menacingly. Maka only grinned in reply. Suddenly the two opponents rushed at each other quickly closing the ten foot gap between them. Their violent battle cries pierced the stagnant night air. Maka sprinted forward and swiped down at Manson who managed to block the attack and spin out of the way. Maka's momentum carried her forward before she stopped and turned on her heel. "Ha ha Ha ha Ha! Not bad for such a little girl." Manson laughed madly, his flail twirling at his side. The two combatants rushed each other again. The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed off the dank brick walls of the alley. Manson whipped his bludgeon down to crush Maka who sidestepped the blow and pinned the chain of the weapon to the ground with her scythe. Immediately she positioned herself to deliver a swift upper kick to Manson's face but she faltered when she saw Manson grinning. His grin was demented and sly all at the same time as if he just caught a helpless creature in a death trap.

That's when Maka felt it. A chilling, nerve wracking pain struck her chest. It felt as though her breath was forcibly ripped from her lungs. Maka stared down at herself and saw four long black protrusions stabbing through her chest. She turned her head to the left and saw the same black shadow creature from before emerging from the chain. It's glowing red eyes narrowed before it ripped its hand upward and out of the young meister. Wracked with pain, Maka was unable to defend herself as Manson kicked her backwards. Maka tumbled along the gravel and asphalt, losing her grip on Soul as she went. As she skidded to a stop, Soul reverted to his human form and rushed over to his partner. "Maka are you ok?" he asked. She nodded as Soul helped her stand back up but she knew that she was not okay. Her chest had seized up, her heart and lungs felt as though they were being clutched at from the inside. The pain which had paralyzed her before had subsided only to be replaced by the aches and bruises from sliding on the rough ground.

"What just happened?" asked Soul. Maka could only shake her head in response. "I- I don't know. It's hand just… just ripped right through me." The sound of Manson's demented laughter brought the attention of the two teens back to the battle at hand. "Did I forget to mention that my weapon attacks your soul directly? Haha haha my bad." The two partners stared back at Manson incredulously. "A weapon that can harm a living soul? I've never heard of anything like that." Soul turned to his meister who still had her arm around his shoulder for support. "That- that shouldn't be possible." Manson threw his head back and howled with laughter yet again.

"That's the power of a phantom weapon!" Manson wrapped his arm around the chain and pulled backwards, catching the spiked ball of his weapon in his hand without even flinching.

"What now Maka?" Soul looked worriedly to his friend to hear her decision. Maka took a deep breath, ignoring the sharp pains of protest from her lungs. She stood up straighter and steeled her resolve. "We kill him that's what." Soul nodded in response and one bright flash of light later he was being twirled through the air by Maka's hands. Maka shifted her stance, ready to defend or attack at a moment's notice. Manson threw the ball forward. It raced towards Maka with incredible speed. Maka nimbly dodged the attack and charged Manson again. He reared his arm back retracting the chain and the spiked ball at its end. Maka ducked and swept out at Manson's legs. Manson jumped over the attack and slammed the ball down to crush Maka's head.

The battle continued to escalate and Maka landed fewer and fewer hits while Manson carved away at her soul. The throbbing pain was relentless. Maka could feel all of her strength draining away with each passing second. Finally Maka couldn't take it anymore and collapsed on the cold concrete face up. This was when Soul turned into his human form and gripped his meister.

-Flashback over-

_Dammit, if only I had done something more we wouldn't be in this mess._ Manson looms over the fallen pair, a bloodthirsty grin on his face. "Time to die." He says. But before he could deliver the final strike the phantom morningstar turns to smoke once again and the black fog creature returns. He then begins gesturing to Manson urgently. "What? But we have them right where we want them!" Manson yells loudly. The weapon gestures behind them to where the sun is peeking over the horizon, coloring the sky and clouds a mix of pink and orange. The Mangler looks over his shoulder and grunts. "Fine, you punks get off lucky this time. But the next time we see you, you're dead." With that Manson pulls on his hood and runs off with incredible speed. Soul lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding before he turns back to his meister. "Maka can you hear me?" Soul lays his partner's head in his lap. Maka groans weakly before she lets the darkness overcome her and she falls into unconsciousness.

**A/N: Second Chapter done. What do you think? **


	3. Dreams and Theories

**A/N: So I changed the summary a bit, hopefully that'll get me a couple of more views. If you like the story please say so. If you don't well that's too bad. This chapter starts to explain a couple of things so if you get confused leave a review and I'll try my best to address the question either by directly answering it or reediting the story. **

**Insert standard disclaimer here**

**Maka's POV **

I wake to an eternal void.

A ceaseless black nothingness surrounds me.

It is different from the Madness I swam through before, but it is also similar.

I attempt to move but the darkness is too heavy. My limbs are laden down by thick blackness. Where am I? How did I get here? I struggle to remember. Slowly the pieces of my memory come together. My mind sorts out the fragments of events into a chronological order. Soul and I left on a mission. We staked out until night time. We fought the kishin egg.

He beat me.

I wasn't strong enough. These words seem to echo through the emptiness but I know I didn't speak them. Suddenly a tiny pinprick of white light flickers into existence to my right. At least I think it's to my right, the darkness still pervades my sense of direction. I slowly turn my head to look at the light, which I now realize is indeed to my right. I lift my arms out and swim towards the beacon. The heaviness in my limbs disappears with each stroke. Wait a minute, I'm not swinging my arms. I realize that I am not moving myself to the light; the darkness seems to be pushing me towards it. As I approach the dot of white the light gets brighter and bigger. The light then begins to change color, to a blood red. As the light grows I move faster and faster towards it. I am beginning to think that whatever lies beyond that light can't be good. I try to stop myself, but my attempts are futile. I can feel myself being swallowed by the red light which has grown so unbearably bright I must squeeze my eyes shut.

The intense light seems to fade away and I risk opening my eyes. My eyes take time to readjust and focus to the absence of the illuminant red. Everything is blurry and I can't make out my own hand in front of my face. However, I can feel an intolerable heat and a suffocating atmosphere. I smell acrid smoke in the air which fills my lungs. I cough and wheeze as my sight returns to me. All around me are flames and burning buildings. The raging fires are the only lights I have and the smoke blots out the sky above.

I struggle to my feet. I have to escape before the fire burns me alive. I realize I'm wearing my normal outfit and I wrap my coat around my nose and mouth. I take off not knowing where I'm going so long as it's away from the flames. As I run I notice I'm on a street, paved with cobblestone, and all the buildings which line it are ablaze with fire. I see a massive inferno up ahead; clearly this building is much larger than the others. Wait, no it can't be.

No, no, no, this isn't happening. My feet skid to a stop and panic finally overwhelms me. I stare in shock at the visage of a burning DWMA. Its walls are collapsing in on themselves and the huge candles have all but melted away. How did this happen? Why did this happen?

"Ma-ka…" Soul, that's Soul's voice!

I swiftly turn in the direction I heard him and throw my jacket to the side. I search through the multiple piles of rubble and charred debris frantically looking for my partner. "Soul, Soul where are you?" Then I see a flash of pure white underneath a heap of broken bricks and burnt wood. "Soul hang on I'm coming!" I dig through the rock and wood ignoring the sweat dripping down my face and the sharp sting of heat I feel through my gloves. I finally free him but my heart drops when I look at him.

His forehead is bleeding, staining the side of his face red. His normally snowy white hair is covered with ash making it appear grey and dull. Ash coats the rest of him as well, moving only with his labored breaths. Tears begin to leak from my eyes. "Oh Soul I'm – I'm so sorry. I'm going to get you out of here and get you help." I start to rise from my kneeling position when I see Soul's hand move. He inches it over to me and I can hear him gasp for breath. He's trying to tell me something! I quickly grab his hand with both of mine and hold it close to me.

"Maka…" he wheezes out. I try not to weep at the sound of his voice. He sounds tired and hurt and above all defeated. "I'm r-right here Soul. What is it?" I say with as much comfort as I can. His gasps become louder and I can hear him struggle with the effort to speak. He opens his eyes and turns his head to look at me. "Y-you di-did this." Huh, what does he mean?

"You didn't save us" each of his words is separated by sharp breath. Soul points over himself and my eyes follow his finger. Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no, no! My heart breaks and an overwhelming feeling of sadness engulfs me. Strewn about the ground are all my friends. Kid, Liz, Patty, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Crona, they all lie lifelessly on the ground. I notice something wet streaming down my face and I realize my tears are fully flowing. "You weren't strong enough. You didn't stop this!" Soul's voice rips me out of my shock. His red eyes stare at me filled with betrayal and anger. I back away in horror. "No this isn't my fault! There was- there was nothing I could do!" I plead with myself more than him. Did I let this happen?

"Why didn't you save us Maka?" A chorus of voices brings my attention back to my friends. They are rising to their feet, bodies aflame and they stare at me accusingly as ash floats down to cover us all. "You weren't powerful enough. You didn't have the strength to save us!" They chanted in unison. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry!" I wail. My friends close in on me as I sit helplessly in the dirt. "You didn't save us. You let us die." I jerk my head up at these words.

"No, no I couldn't do that! I would never do that!" The fire continues to burn around us as they close in.

"You let us die!" I cover my ears and duck my head, the sorrow is too much to handle.

"You let us die!" They chant as I weep and sobs wrack my frame.

What if this was all my fault? If I had just gotten here sooner maybe I could have saved them. Oh God, why did this happen? The fear builds up inside me. The fear that I was too late to do anything, that I was too weak to save them invades my mind. The endless droning of my dead friends gets louder and louder. Please no, I'm sorry. I open my eyes again and through my tears I make out flames spreading towards Soul. My eyes widen in fright.

He's still alive, I can still save him. I try to get to my feet but my friends have surrounded me and are holding me down. The flames creep ever closer to Soul. "No please, I can still save him!" Fear and panic cause my heart to beat faster. I struggle to reach Soul but the hands gripping me are too strong. I see Soul reach out to me with his hand, fear is in his eyes. "No, please, please!" I beg as the fire is almost upon him. My friends have turned to skeletons that rip and grasp at me preventing me from rescuing Soul. "No, Soul. Soul!" The last thing I see is Soul engulfed by the flames. The charred skeletons completely surround me now jostling and pushing me. "No, No… No, stop!" I scream and scream until my throat is hoarse. My fear has been realized and the sheer terror overwhelms me as I shut my eyes. "No, No!" I continue to shout.

"Maka…" I faintly hear my name, but I am too wrapped in fear to acknowledge it. Instead I continue to thrash and scream.

"Maka! Maka wake up!" The voice is louder this time and I realize that I can no longer feel the heat of the fires.

"Maka, damnit, Maka you need to wake up!" I open my eyes and see Kidd's face hovering worriedly next to me.

**End Maka's POV**

"K – Kid?" Maka asks. Kid let out a sigh of relief "Oh thank goodness. You were really worrying us there for a minute." Maka looked around and noticed that she was lying on a bed in the school's infirmary surrounded by all of her friends. "You're – all alive?" Maka asked with disbelief. "Of course we are." Liz said with confusion. "We're surprised you're still alive." Maka ran a hand through her hair trying to come to terms with it all. _It was all just a dream but, it felt so real. _"What happened to me?" she asked. Kid backed off before speaking again. "That's what we'd like to know." Maka turned away from him in thought.

"When Soul rushed into the Academy carrying you we were all scared." Tsubaki explained. "He said you were hurt by a kishin egg and you blacked out, that's all he told us." Suddenly Maka looked up, startled. She looked around the room in worry, Soul wasn't there. "Soul where is he? Where is Soul?" She asked panicked. "Relax Maka, Soul just went to the bathroom." Kid reassured her. Maka calmed down but not very much. "Blackstar, go get Soul and tell him Maka woke up." Kid said. Blackstar, who was sitting backwards in a chair, looked at him for a moment before getting up. "Fine, but I'm only doing it because Maka's the center of attention right now, not because you told me to." Kid simply rolled his eyes as Blackstar left the room.

"So Maka care to tell us what happened, and why you were screaming at the top of your lungs?" The faces of her friends looked at her expectantly. "Umm, I must have been having a bad dream. I can't even remember what it was about now." Maka lied. The fear still gripped her heart and even though she now knew it wasn't real her mind would not be at ease until she saw her partner, alive, again. "Maka, Soul said you were attacked by a kishin egg. How did you deal with that?" Crona asked. Maka sighed as she recalled the battle and her failure. "We had him on the ropes. Then his weapon did something weird and I was just in too much pain. He said that his weapon went right through my body and attacked my soul. I was basically paralyzed and he was about to finish us off. Then his weapon transformed into this smoky guy and they left right before the sun came up. After that I fainted." When Maka finished her story she saw looks of disbelief on the faces of her friends.

"A weapon that harms your soul, I've never heard of something like that before." Kid stated. "Yeah well it felt real enough. How long have I been out?" Maka asked. "About a day" Liz said. Tsubaki nodded in conformation. "And Soul didn't leave your side for a minute when you got here." She added. "R-really?" Maka smiled slightly at the thought. "He-he, yeah he was like a big ol' guard dog. Ruff-ruff Ha-ha!" Patty's impersonation made them all laugh. "We finally convinced him that you would be fine while he took a bathroom break." Kid said.

Suddenly they heard footsteps echo down the corridor outside. A moment later Soul burst into the room panting and out of breath. "Why-didn't- someone get me – sooner?" he breathed out. The group gave mixed replies but Maka didn't hear any of them. She was too relieved to see Soul, alive and well, to care. As Soul walked over to Maka's bedside Maka jumped up and latched her arms around his neck. Everyone was surprised by this especially Soul who nearly fell on top of her. "Uhh Maka…" Soul began unsure of what provoked this display. "I don't care if it isn't cool to hug your meister just shut up and let me do this." Maka nearly cried tears of joy, the pain of seeing him die was still fresh in her mind. Soul was unsure of what to do so he simply hugged her back. They stayed like that for a little while until Blackstar came back into the room.

"I hate to break up the little love fest but Lord Death just told me he wants to see you two ASAP." Blackstar said while leaning against the doorway. "But she just woke up!" Soul turned around to protest. "It's okay Soul I feel fine, I'm not hurting anymore." This was true, besides the minor wounds she sustained Maka physically felt fine. However she wasn't sure if she had the energy to make the trip. Maka slid out of the bed and stood on wobbly legs. She grabbed the wall at the last second to keep stable. "Maka maybe you should rest some more." Maka shook her head. "I'm fine I can do this Soul." Soul simply huffed knowing how stubborn his meister was and that there was no point in arguing.

"Well then we're going with you. I want to see what my father knows about this mysterious weapon." Kid spoke up. Liz and Patti nodded in agreement. "Don't forget us, we're going too. Right Tsubaki?" Tsubaki smiled at Blackstar and nodded. "I- I'll go too. J-just to make sure Maka's okay." Crona raised his hand, then Ragnarok appeared out of his back. "Eh she'll be fine. She's tough unlike you, ya sissy." Ragnarok finished his taunt with a light punch to Crona's head. "All right then let's go." Maka said with a smile.

**Later on **

The trip to the Death Room was arduous for Maka. She struggled to walk for the first few steps and was supported by Soul who walked alongside her. But when he once again suggested that she take it easy, Maka trooped to the head of the group and lead them up. She refused to let herself tire out. By the time they reached the Death Room she was out of breath but she continued on.

"Yahooo! The great Black*Star has arrived!" the blue haired assassin burst in before everyone else. Lord Death materialized out of his mirror as the other kids walked in. "Hey hey! Nice to see ya!" he said in his cheerful voice. Maka walked over to a chair and promptly sat herself in it without saying anything. "Oh Maka I feel absolutely terrible about all of this. How are you doing?" Death's skull-like face fell as Maka plopped herself in the seat. "It's okay Lord Death. I was the one that lost the fight." _I was the one who wasn't strong enough_. Lord Death raised an overly large finger into the air. "Yes but I was the one who sent you on this dangerous mission in the first place. I knew how much trouble Manson was. I never should have considered this a one team job."

Maka raised her hands in a placating gesture. "Really it's okay. I feel fine; I'm just a little tired is all." Lord Death sighed in defeat before returning to his normally jolly personality. "All right enough of the blame game then. Tell me everything that happened." Lord Death said. Maka and Soul each took turns describing their fight to Lord Death who listened silently. "So you're saying that his weapon somehow phased through you and attacked your soul?" Death asked when they finished their story. "That's the only way I can describe it."Maka absently moved her hand up to her chest. "Father, what kind of a weapon can do such a thing?" all eyes turned to Death who tilted his head in puzzlement.

"I'm not actually sure Kiddo. I've never heard of something like this." Lord Death then grinned and pointed a finger in the air. "But I think Professor Stein should be able to help us." Lord Death turned around and tapped on his large mirror. Ripples spread across its surface until an image began to take shape within the mirror. "Hello Stein? Are you there Stein?" when the ripples stopped it revealed Professor Stein sitting at his desk and writing notes in a small notebook. Stein looked up when he heard his boss' voice and smiled. "Ah Lord Death nice to see you. Oh and I see Maka is awake as well. How are you feeling Maka?" he asked politely. "I'm doing well." Maka waved. Stein nodded before turning back to the shadowed figure on the screen. "So Lord Death, what can I do for you?" he asked.

"We have a question that we think your expertise might be helpful in answering." Stein leaned back in his rolling chair. "Ok shoot." He said. "As you know Maka was recently injured on her last mission in a fight against a kishin egg named Sam Manson." Stein nodded. He was the one who treated Maka when Soul ran into the Academy with her in his arms. "Well from what Maka has told me, Manson was wielding an unusual weapon, one which was able to attack her physically and attack her soul directly." Stein's eyes widened in surprise. "That is quite strange. Can you tell me anything else?" he asked. "His weapon partner didn't even look human." Soul spoke up. "He appeared out of Manson's shadow and had these pointy ears. He was completely grey, like smoke, and had these claws on his hands and glowing red eyes." When Soul finished his description Stein reached up and twisted the screw in his head in thought. "Do you have any idea what kind of thing we're dealing with?" Death asked.

Stein pulled out a cigarette and lighter. "Well from the description it sounds to me that what you two encountered was a phantom." Stein lit his cigarette and took a long drag on it. He blew the smoke out in a perfect O shape. "What the heck's a phantom?" Blackstar interrupted. "Well you see…" Stein began. "When a person dies his or her soul might not always pass on and instead it lingers in the world of the living. When that happens, the soul becomes a ghost and takes on the appearance it had when it was alive." This brought mixed responses from the group. Shock and curiosity were the most prevalent. Liz on the other hand hid behind her sister in fear at the word ghost. "Sometimes if a ghost lingers even longer and builds up enough anger or sorrow or negative emotion it will become a phantom. Phantoms have more power than ghosts and can latch onto people's souls to feed off their soul wavelength and life-force." Stein twisted his cigarette in the ash tray next to him, leaving the butt in the tray. "How come I've never heard of phantoms before? I'm a grim reaper." Kid spoke up. "Phantoms are exceedingly rare so I'm not surprised you've never heard of them." Stein explained. "So what we fought… was a phantom?" Maka inquired.

Stein twisted his head screw again before answering. "Not exactly, from your account it sounds to me like you ran into something far rarer, a phantom weapon." Blackstar threw his hands up in frustration. "You're not making any sense old man!" he shouted. "Blackstar!" Tsubaki scolded. "What is a phantom weapon professor?" Soul asked. "Up until now it's only been a theory, but it seems that this might be the first confirmed sighting of one in history." Stein's cigarette butt glowed faintly with its last dying embers. "If a phantom comes from a dead person's soul, where does a phantom weapon originate from?" Kid wondered out loud. Smoke from Stein's cigarette rose slowly upward in a thin line to obscure the screen. "It's been thought that if a person who was a weapon in life died and his or her soul became a phantom, then that phantom would be able to regain the weapon form it had when it was alive as well as the powers of a normal phantom. It may even have powers we don't know about." Stein turned his eyes to Lord Death who had been quiet the entire time.

"Oh man, a phantom weapon, that sounds so scary!" Liz cowered while Patty simply giggled at her. "A phantom weapon…" Maka whispered under her breath. She could picture the thing clearly in her mind as if it was right in front of her again. The long talons, scrawny grey body, and bright red eyes were engraved into her mind's eye. "Maka…" Lord Death's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she looked up at the tall black figure standing before her. "Yes?" she replied. "Would you mind telling me what kind of weapon the phantom turned into?" he asked kindly. "It was a morningstar." She answered. Behind her Blackstar pulled at his hair. "What the heck is a-"It's a spiked ball linked to a chain." Soul answered before he could ask. Maka turned back to Lord Death. "Is that important?" She asked. "Hm, oh no not really." The shinigami responded with a smile. "What I wanna know is how we're going to take it down!" Blackstar punched his fists together for emphasis.

"That's the part I'm not sure about. This is the first case of a phantom weapon so there is no set method of attack." Embers from Stein's cigarette floated upward illuminating the smoke. "So we don't have a strategy or even a way to prevent our souls from being… attacked." Maka's pause was evident to Soul who looked at her with worry out of the corner of his eye. "Unfortunately no." Stein's cigarette had stopped burning by this point leaving only ash behind. "Actually…" Lord Death interjected. "I think I know someone who might be able to help us." Everyone in the room looked up at him in surprise, including Stein. "His name is Daniel Grey and he's an expert on soul studies." Lord Death said. "If there is anyone who can help us it would be him."

"H-how will he help us?" Chrona spoke up. "Well for starters he has what we call in the biz an enlightened soul. This means he has achieved a perfect soundness and harmony between mind, body, and soul." In the background Stein nodded in understanding. "It also makes him immune to madness." Stein added. "Immune to madness? That's impossible." Maka exclaimed. "I assure you Maka it is very possible." Lord Death said. "But we can explain all that later, right now we need to get Danny here. There's not a moment to lose!" Suddenly a table sprang up near Lord Death complete with a piece of paper, quill, and inkwell. Death picked up the quill and began writing a note. "Kid I'm sending you, Patty, and Liz to go get Danny Grey and bring him back here." Kid raised his eyebrow at this. "Wouldn't it just be easier to call him?" he asked. Lord Death turned around, quill still in hand. "No, you see Daniel lives in a remote spot near the top of a mountain in the Himalayas. He has virtually no contact with the outside world which means no phone lines. I doubt I could even reach him with my mirror." Lord Death turned back to his letter and finished it with a flourish before folding it up and stuffing it in an envelope. He then turned to his son and handed him the letter, complete with a skull shaped stamp.

"Just give him this letter and he'll know what to do." The trio looked at the envelope questioningly. "Wait, so we're going to some freezing mountain in the middle of nowhere just to deliver a letter?" Liz huffed. Lord Death sweat-dropped. "Well not exactly, I'm sending you so you can escort Mr. Grey back here. You see he's very, well, um, easily distracted." All three of them looked at the reaper, confusion clear on their faces. "You'll see when you get there, now go go go!" Lord Death ushered them out the door before turning back to the rest of the group. "While they're doing that the rest of you will be on standby in case Manson decides to attack again." Chrona, Blackstar, Tsubaki and Soul all nodded in understanding. Maka, however, had a brief flash of indecision and nervousness. The fear of battling the phantom weapon again crept up into her mind. _No, I won't be afraid. I will beat him._ Maka steeled her resolve and stamped the fear out.

**A/N: There you have it chapter 3. I hope the Soul x Maka fluff wasn't too obvious. Next chapter introduces my OC who will have way more depth than the villain did. As always please read, enjoy, leave a review, add a fave, have a cookie, do whatever you want. But I will give a shout out to any reviewers in the next chapter. **


	4. Atop the Mountain

**A/N: Big shout out to Sarasorad, Dummy Perception, & Katiebear101 for reviewing my story. Also thank you to Booklover2526 for faving my story. This chapter introduces my OC and as such has a little less action then the other chapters. I hope you enjoy anyway.**

A fierce blizzard tore through the mountain range. The snow fell relentlessly downward, blown about by the howling winds. Kidd, Liz, and Patty trudged up a trail at the side of a mountain. The cold air bit at them. Their faces were drained of color and as white as the snow surrounding them. Kid led the march, Liz and Patty following close behind. Kidd's only protection seemed to be a shadowy cloak, reminiscent of his father's form. The girls of course wore matching parkas and snow boots. The blizzard grew ever fiercer as they ascended the mountain. The heavy snowfall and winds obscured the path ahead of them, yet still they marched forward.

"This sucks!" Liz shouted over the wind. "It's cold and nasty and I've got snow in places I don't want to think about." Liz's arms were wrapped around herself in an attempt to keep warm. "We should be close to our destination. Just a few more minutes and we'll be there." Kidd replied without turning around. "All t-this f-f-for a st-stupid letter." Liz shivered. "Kidd wh-what d-d-does the l-letter say anyway?" Patty asked shivering next to her sister. "I don't know, Father told me not to look at it." Kidd briefly pulled his arm from out of his cloak, holding the letter in his hands. "W-why d-d-don't we find out?" Liz suggested. Kidd turned his head over to his left, shock evident on his face. "Are you joking? We couldn't possibly do such a thing!" he said astonished. "Why not?" Liz asked annoyed.

Kidd stopped in the snow and turned around to face his two weapon partners. He held out the envelope in front of him grasping its sides with both hands. "Look at it." He said simply. The two girls huddled around him to examine the letter. It was a plain white envelope, nothing of note except the skull shaped stamp which sealed it. "Okay…" Liz looked at her meister with eyebrow raised. Kidd frowned. "We don't have a letter opener. If we tried to open it with our hands it would completely ruin the symmetry of the envelope not to mention the stamp placed perfectly in the center." Liz groaned while Patty made an 'O' shape with her mouth in understanding. Kidd tucked the letter back under his robes and turned around. "Come on we still have a ways to go. There's no time for…" Kidd suddenly stopped speaking and stood perfectly still. "Wh-what's the m-matter with you?" Liz asked as she continued moving forward. Kidd stuck his arm out to the side, stopping her.

"Shh Do you hear that?" He asked scanning the field of white in front of him. "H-hear wh-what?" Liz asked. Kidd narrowed his eyes. "Footsteps." He said. The pair of weapons listened closely, trying to hear over the billowing winds. Soon the sound of crunching snow reached their ears, along with snarls and growls. Suddenly a wolf appeared in front of them, its gray fur coated with snow. The wolf raised its head and let out a loud howl which ripped through the noise of the fierce wind. Two more wolves materialized out of the blizzard behind them. Another two flanked their sides. They were soon surrounded by a dozen or more wolves. "Liz, Patty…" Kid whispered under his breath. The girls nodded and shifted into their gun forms. The pack of wolves circled around them, fangs bared and eyes wild. Kidd watched them carefully, holding his pistols out to both sides. A wolf to his left growled and suddenly leaped at the reaper. Kidd's response was instant. He leveled his gun at the beast and pulled the trigger. But to his surprise the gun didn't fire. The next thing he knew the wolf had tackled him and he lay on the snowy ground with the wolf's snapping maw only inches from his face. Kidd kicked up and sent the wolf flipping over his head. As he got up Kidd tried shooting at the other wolves but no bullets were fired.

"Liz, Patty what's the matter with you two?" Kidd asked as he spun around another lunging wolf. In their naked weapon forms the girls were shivering madly. "W-we're j-j-ja-jammed." Patty said. "I-it's t-t-too c-c-cold." Liz added. Kidd cursed under his breath and slowly backed away from the encroaching predators. The entire pack was closing in on him as he frantically looked for an escape. As he backed up Kidd nearly tripped as he went to put his foot down. He looked behind him and saw that he had reached the edge of the mountain's cliff. It was a nearly five hundred foot drop which not even Kidd, being a shinigami, could survive. Kidd turned back around to watch the band of predators slowly close in on him. "What n-now K-k-kidd?" Liz asked. Kidd slowly holstered his two pistols and shifted his feet through the snow. "I have no choice but to fight them off with my hands." Kidd replied as he assumed his martial arts stance. As Kidd eyed the wolves he slowly realized that he wouldn't be able to take them all on by himself, not without at least getting seriously injured. A wolf in the middle of the group hunkered down and then ran at Kidd full speed.

Kidd's muscles tensed as he prepared to combat the fierce predator. The wolf ran and jumped at Kidd, but suddenly it was sent flying to the right and tumbled down the mountain and through the snow. It happened so fast that Kidd's eyes couldn't see it, but a robed figure did a flying kick which sent the wolf soaring down the trail. Kidd looked at his savior who stood tall like a pillar in between himself and the other wolves. The stranger wore a brown headdress and cloak. The cloak fluttered in the wind along with a faded orange sash wrapped around his neck. Underneath the cloak he wore thick faded orange robes. In his hand he held an intricately carved walking stick which he twirled around in his hands.

The rest of the wolves snarled and turned their attention on the newcomer. A wolf charged in from the stranger's right. The robed man quickly swatted it away with his staff before spinning back around and knocking another wolf on the head. He swiped another charging wolf on its side and then kicked it backwards. He gracefully flipped over the wolves and continued spinning the walking stick around himself. At one point a wolf had gripped onto the staff with its teeth, but the stranger simply lifted the predator up and delivered a quick series of jabs and strikes to its stomach. Kidd watched with amazement as the stranger elegantly fought away the carnivores. In a matter of mere seconds the man had defeated the entire pack of wolves. The wolves slowly got up from the snow and limped away down the mountain. Some whimpered while others backed away and snarled at the victor. By this time the girls had already transformed back into humans and had huddled next to Kidd. Kidd didn't notice however as he was too busy staring openmouthed at his savior who single handedly drove off the hungry wolf pack.

"Kidd, don't be rude, say thank you." Liz scolded him. This seemed to snap Kidd out of his reverie as he turned to his partner before nodding quickly. The trio approached the strange warrior who stood staring at the direction the wolves had retreated to. "Ahem, thank you for saving us mister, um…" Kidd started and trailed off at the end to learn the name of the mysterious stranger. "What are you doing here?" The man said harshly without turning to face the trio. From their spot they could see the man had some bandanna or facecloth wrapped around his nose and mouth. "Well, you see, um, er…" Kidd fumbled over his words not expecting such a harsh tone. "Stop stuttering and answer the question! Why are you here?" The man's low voice startled the three and he frightened them even more when he turned his head to look at them. His dark brown eyes were narrowed and his gaze was intense. Kidd continued to stumble while the girls hid behind Kidd in fear. The stranger turned to face the trio, his steely gaze never leaving them. The man towered over the three as he stepped closer to them, easily six feet tall. _'We're safe from the wolves, but now we might have a new threat to deal with.'_ Kidd thought to himself.

The stranger looked over the trio once, studying them intently. The silence between them was only broken by the sounds of the harsh winds battering the mountain. "W-we were sent to find someone." Kidd finally said. He looked at the man with pride and determination. The stranger turned his attention on the young death god. "You're all just children though?" Before anyone could reply, the man reached up and undid the cloth which obscured his face. "My goodness, who would think of sending children up here at this time of the year? It's the middle of winter you know, you three could have frozen to death." Without the mask the man's voice sounded much kinder, the harsh, deep tone was replaced by a lighter emotional voice. Even the man's face gave off an aura of friendliness. His eyes, which once seemed emotionless and cold, were now warm and bright when coupled with his smiling face. The man was young, in his mid or early twenties. His skin was a creamy color; his face flushed with red from what Kidd guessed was the cold. "Sorry if I sounded somewhat mean, the mask tends to muffle my voice." He said as he stuffed the cloth into a pocket.

"Now tell me, who on earth made you come here during the winter?" The man asked. "Well, um – "Oh you know what never mind. You can tell me that later. Right now we should get you three out of this weather. You must all be freezing." Kidd had begun to answer when the man quickly interrupted. The man turned around to face up the trail and took a few steps. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at the trio. "My home is just up there at the end of this path." He pointed up the trail but the kids couldn't see any building due to the blizzard. "Come along now." As the man started to walk away Kidd, Liz and Patty quickly rushed to follow him, having no other option. "You know, you three could have at least waited for the storm to blow over." The man said without turning around. Behind Kidd, Liz growled. "That's what I said! Let's wait for the weather to clear up, but no we had to leave immediately." She said. Kidd simply rolled his eyes.

After a few minutes of walking a large shape started to become visible through the blinding white. It was a large building built up against the rock of the mountain. It looked to be an old temple made of stone and brick. The roof had two slanted layers and its corners were upturned. A spire topped the temple with a tattered flag waving wildly in the wind. A flight of snow covered stairs led up to a large porch with faded red pillars. Beyond the pillars was a large and ornate double door with two knockers in the shape of a large cat. "Wow it's so pretty!" Patty exclaimed. "Why thank you." The man smiled back. Kidd stopped and rubbed his chin. "I would agree, but the staircase is in disrepair and completely ruins the symmetry." Behind him Liz raised her hand and slapped him. "You and your stupid symmetry. Honestly this guy comes and saves us and then you insult his house?" The man laughed up ahead of them. "It's quite alright, this is a very old temple. I can only do so much to keep it in good condition." Finally the group climbed the staircase and made it to the large double door.

"Well here we are." The man said as he pushed open the doors. Kidd, Liz, and Patty all gasped as they were bathed in golden light. The inside of the temple was even more decorated and beautiful than the outside. Candles were spread about on nearly every surface. An exotic designed rug was placed just past the entrance on a paneled wooden floor. Pictures and paintings lined the walls, depicting people, animals, monsters, and all kinds of symbols. However, the most striking thing they saw was straight ahead of them in the middle of the foyer. It seemed like almost a separate room, bordered on three sides by painted wooden walls which were connected to the ceiling by thin columns. At the far end of this sectioned area was a fountain which had water gently streaming down through spouts. At the top of this fountain was a large golden statue of the Buddha sitting in a meditative position. Large candelabras were positioned to either side of the statue. A small series of steps led down into this area which seemed to be inset into the floor. The floor of this area seemed to be made of polished white marble. A large picture of a yin-yang symbol was engraved in the marble and almost spanned the entire square of the floor.

"Wow sis, look at all the pretty pictures!" Patty jolted off as soon as the doors closed behind them. "I should probably go after her and make sure she doesn't break anything." Liz sighed before walking after her sister. After marveling at the interior of the temple Kidd turned around to see their host hanging up his cloak and scarf. "So tell me, what are your names? And why are you three up on this mountain?" The monk turned around to face Kidd. He was a tall man and had a lean but muscular build. His head looked to be shaved but still had the appearance of having hair. Grey's robes clung to his torso and a red sash encircled his waist. "My name is Kid, and those two are my weapon partners Liz and her sister Patty." Kid said. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Daniel Grey." Danny bowed low towards Kid with his hands folded in front of him. Kidd eyed the older man with a questioning look. "You're Danny Grey?" He asked skeptically. "Last time I checked." Danny replied jovially.

"Shinigami-sama sent us to find you so we could – "Oh Lord Death sent you. I haven't spoken to him in ages. How is he doing?" Danny continued to smile happily as if he hadn't just interrupted his guest. Kidd, startled by the interruption quickly recovered and tried to start once more. "Well he's doing fine but he sent us here to summon you to the DWMA. He gave me this letter to – "Perfect we can read the letter over a cup of tea." Danny swiftly walked away from Kidd as he was reaching to pull out the letter. "Would either of you girls like some tea?" He called out as he walked to the back of the room. "Yea sure I'll have some." Liz answered leaning against the wall. "Hot Cocoa please!" Patty yelled up. Danny smiled before opening a door at the end of the foyer. "Mr. Grey I really think you should read this letter before – "Don't worry we have plenty of time to do that later. Right now just make yourselves comfortable on the couch." As he went through the door Danny gestured to a living room area on his left. He then turned right into a kitchen where he pulled out some tea bags and a packet of hot cocoa for Patty. Kidd grumbled at the man while the girls walked past him into the living space. Reluctantly Kidd went and joined them on the couch.

Danny hummed to himself as he fluttered about the small kitchen making tea. From his spot on the couch Kidd watched the man with curious eyes. "So he's the guy?" Liz whispered from his left. Kidd turned around to look at her and raised his hand off the armrest to block his words from Danny's ears. "That's what he says but I'm not sure if I believe him." Kidd glanced back at the monk preparing tea in the kitchen. "He does have some incredible fighting skills, but that could just be because he learned it as a monk here." Liz rested her chin in her hand as she thought about her meister's words. "Plus, every time I bring up the reason we're here he quickly changes the subject. He could just be trying to delay us from finding the real Danny Grey." Liz's eyes widened as she hadn't thought of that possibility.

Before she could say anything back Danny walked out of the kitchen carrying a tray full of tea cups and sugar bowls. "I hope you all enjoy your drinks." He said handing out the cups to everyone. Patty eagerly blew on her hot cocoa to cool it down and Liz sipped her tea quietly, Kidd had taken his cup but refused to drink from it. Danny took a seat immediately across from them and took a long sip from his tea. "So now to the matter at hand, you said that you were sent by Lord Death?" Kidd set his teacup down on the coffee table in front of him. "That's right, we have a bit of a problem and Lord Death told us that Danny Grey might be able to help us." Kidd crossed his arms and looked at the man hard. "Well I'll certainly try." He laughed seemingly unaffected by Kidd's stare. "He said that Mr. Grey is an expert in the area of souls." Danny took another sip of his tea. "Ah well yes I have spent many years studying the soul so I suppose you could say I'm an expert." Danny smiled at Kidd's unmoved face. "Also I am right here there's really no need to be so formal. You can just call me Danny." Kidd raised his eyebrow at this. "Can I? How do I know that you are the real Daniel Grey?" Kidd asked. Liz nearly spat out her tea at Kidd's blatant accusation. Patty simply chose to remain silent and tensed up in anticipation. Danny however simply continued to smile. "Ah so you don't trust me. Well just use your soul perception. I'm sure you'll find that there is no one else here." Kidd chose to ignore how the man knew about his own soul perception. Instead he closed his eyes and focused. The man turned out to be right, he couldn't sense any other souls besides the four of them in the area.

Kidd opened his eyes to continue glaring at the man in front of him. "That doesn't mean anything. The real Dan Grey could have left the mountain earlier." At this Danny's smile faltered somewhat and he sighed. "I see, so it's proof you want then? Well young shinigami I'm more than happy to oblige." He said while putting down his teacup. Kidd's eyes widened in shock. "How did you know – "That you were a shinigami?" Danny finished. "I could tell by looking at your soul." He said. "Your soul is much different from that of an ordinary human. In fact the reason I was able to come to your aid earlier was because I picked up on the unique wavelength of your soul." Danny smiled at the trio.

"And when I sensed the souls of those wolves stalking you I knew that I had to help." Kidd looked surprised at this last statement.

"You can pick up on the souls of animals?" he asked. Danny nodded quickly, hands folded in his lap. "Of course I can. They are living creatures just like you and me, which means they have souls as well." Danny explained.

Kidd's face flushed red in embarrassment. "I knew that." He stammered. Kidd's doubts faltered at this point. The man in front of him was clearly very skilled in soul perception if he was able to differentiate the souls of animals from those of people. He definitely is the person they were sent to find. "Also…" Kidd looked back up at Danny who pointed his finger out at him. "The whole shroud and skull theme you have going on kind of gave you away as Lord Death's son." Kidd looked down at himself. He was still wearing his cloak for travelling and had his skull mask pushed to the side. "Ha Ha Ha!" Patty pointed and laughed at Kidd's obliviousness to his dress. Beside her Liz covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her giggles. Kidd rolled his eyes at his two weapons before clearing his throat.

"Yes well, now that we've established that you are in fact Dan Grey perhaps we can finally discuss what we came here for." Kidd said as he pulled out Lord Death's letter from inside his cloak. "Of course." Danny reached out to take the letter from Kidd. "So do you have a letter opener…" Kidd was cut off by the loud sound of a rip. He stared in shock as Danny ripped open the seal of the envelope piece by piece. With his eye twitching and his jaw dropped Kidd reached out a shaking hand at the letter. "Oh the horror." He whispered as Liz patted his back sympathetically. Danny however was completely oblivious of the effect his action had on Kidd. He pulled out the folded note and tossed the shredded envelope aside.

"Now let's see what the trouble is." He said as he held the note up to his face. As Danny read the note though, his smile began to fall off his face. It was replaced by a serious and stoic expression. A momentary frown tugged at his lips as his eyes skimmed over the page. Kidd and Liz glanced sideways at each other, wondering just what was written in that message. Utter silence filled the room, broken only when Dan went to take a drink of his tea. Kidd noticed that although he had read the letter twice now he had not said a word nor asked them any questions. Just as Kidd was going to ask if something was wrong Danny folded up the letter and his normal bright smile returned. "It seems like you guys have quite a problem on your hands." Danny then ripped the letter in half and threw the scraps in the fire place to his right. Kidd's eyes once again widened in shock as the paper burned to ashes in the fire. "A kishin egg using a phantom weapon, wow. I'd like to say I've heard it all but that one just really takes the cake." He said.

"So you've encountered a regular phantom weapon before?" Liz asked tentatively. "Oh I'm afraid not." Dan replied with a cheery smile. All three faces across from him however sweat-dropped. "I have dealt with a few phantoms before but that's as far as my experience goes." Daniel placed his now empty tea cup back on the tray in front of him. "However," he continued. "I cannot simply ignore your request for help. I promise that I will do everything in my power to assist you in defeating this phantom weapon." This time Daniel smiled in a determined almost cocky manner, unlike the previous grins which adorned his face. The trio smiled back at him, a fiery desire to defeat the enemy burning in their eyes. "But first, I'll need to see about finding you three rooms for the night." With that Daniel stood up and collected the tea tray to put in the kitchen. "That storm won't blow over until the morning so I'm afraid you'll have to stay here for the night." Kidd begrudgingly agreed, coming up in that mess was hard enough he couldn't imagine trying to go back down in it.

"Alright we'll leave first thing in the morning then." Kidd announced.

**A/N: I originally wanted to add more to this chapter but it seemed like it was getting too long. The ending was kind of lame and just a random place that I decided to stop at. Next chapter will have more action. As always read and review.**


	5. Journey to the West

**A/N: So I just realized that it has probably been over a month since I updated this story. Yeah… I guess it was a lot of writer's block, lack of inspiration, whatever you want to call it. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up sooner. I also wanted to address my reviewer Sarahsorad. You mentioned something about formatting of the story which to be honest I'm not all that great at. So if you or anyone else reading this has some tips about the format leave it in a review for me. **

The sun rose over high mountain ranges. The ice and snow glistened in the shining rays of the breaking dawn. Birds could be heard singing high pitched calls of delight, heralding the start of a new day. In a familiar temple nestled near the peak of one of these mountains, Death the Kid was preparing for the day ahead. Waking up at eight o'clock sharp, as he did every day, Kid promptly performed his morning rituals before going to wake up his two weapon partners. Said partners were none too happy about being woken up so early, but begrudgingly they rose from the doldrums of sleep. Kid then set out to try and rouse their host from his slumber.

Coming to a plain wooden door Kid knocked twice. "Mr. Grey?" He called out. A muffled groan was all that answered him. "I hate to bother you like this but we really must be going!" Kid called out. A few moments later shuffling footsteps could be heard, and then the door to the bedroom opened. A sleepy and haggard looking Daniel stood in the door frame, grey pajamas disheveled and eyes squinting with sleep. "Breakfast…" He mumbled tiredly. Kid stepped back out of his way as Daniel made his way to the kitchen. "Mr. Grey I believe it would be much more prudent if we skipped breakfast and left immediately. We can get something to eat in town." Kid said while Daniel shuffled through the halls.

When they reached the kitchen they found Patty and Liz already dressed and sitting on the couch. "Nonsense…" Danny yawned. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I insist that we eat something before we embark." Danny reached up into a cupboard and pulled out a cloth bag of what looked to be some sort of grain. "Now then, who would like a bowl of homemade oatmeal?" Danny asked. Kid refused the offer and Danny turned to the Thompson sisters. "Blehh Oatmeal is yucky!" Patty exclaimed. "I'll have some." Liz raised her hand. Patty turned to her sister with a questioning look. "Hey I'm hungry enough right now to eat anything." She yawned in response. Patty considered this for a moment before also raising her hand. Twenty minutes later the three of them were finishing their bowls of oatmeal. "Ah I feel much better now." Danny said with a smile. As he got up to put away the dishes Kid decided to speak. "Excellent now that we're done eating we can pack up and go." Danny turned and smiled at the young reaper, his normal countenance seeming to have returned. "I'm afraid not Kid. There are a few things I need to do before we leave." Kid's face fell. "Like what?" He asked.

"Well my meditation first of all. I do it every morning." Danny replied while rinsing the dishes. "It'll only take about ten minutes." Danny began humming a little as he washed the bowls. "Mr. Grey… Danny, I don't think we will have time for that. I must insist we leave immediately." Kid pleaded. Daniel sighed before turning to look at Kid with a stoic face. "Kid I understand you're urgency, but you must understand that these things are part of my morning routine. I have my rituals as I am sure you have your own." Danny's face softened as he finished his sentence. Kid turned his head away, somewhat ashamed. He knew all too well the importance of sticking to a normal routine. He would be a hypocrite if he did not allow Danny to indulge in his own rituals. "Very well, but please do try to hurry up." Daniel smiled bright and big. "Splendid, I'll try my best to hurry along." With that Daniel walked out of the room and into the foyer. Kid sighed in exasperation. _I'm starting to understand why Father had us come up here._ He thought to himself.

**Meanwhile, halfway across the world… **

In the back alleys behind cramped and dilapidated apartment buildings a young woman was running. Breathless and panicked she ran and ran. Her feet were bare after tripping one too many times on her high heels. Her bright hip-hugging red dress was frayed and stained from splashing through puddles and scraping on asphalt in her escape. The woman ducked behind a dumpster placed parallel against a steel mesh fence. She clutched her leather purse tightly, trying desperately to calm herself. Tears fell from her eyes as she attempted to silence the sobs wracking her body. Never had the young woman felt so frightened, so utterly afraid for her life. She thought she had lost the madman, left him behind in the rain.

Suddenly she heard an ominous clang of metal on stone followed by a slow scraping noise. That dreaded sound was back and her eyes widened in terror. She thought she lost him but then that sound rang clear through the air once more. She could still see him clearly in her mind, that hulking brute of a man and his deadly bludgeon. She heard the sound again and she looked around in a panic from her hiding spot. There was no one around she could see, no mysterious shadows or huge silhouettes. Yet still the sound rang out through the air seeming to come from everywhere at once. The clanking noise of the metal became louder and more frequent. The woman jumped up from her hiding spot and turned to face the way she came from. The noise became louder and more demanding, its hard smack against the pavement like a caged beast eager for its next meal. Suddenly the noise stopped leaving only the sound of falling rain to fill the air. The woman whimpered as she anxiously waited for the noise to return, but her nerves got the best of her and she turned to run away once more.

But as she turned and ran she bumped solidly into a massive wall of flesh. Her gaze slowly moved upwards until she reached the manic face of her pursuer. She tried to scream but her voice was lost. She tried to move but she was paralyzed with fear. Manson stood above her, his shadow completely overtaking her. He looked down at her, cannibalistic hunger in his eyes. His hooded jacket stained with dried blood from his last kill and his weapon slung over one shoulder lazily. Manson raised his weapon above his head, preparing to deliver a lethal final blow.

"Yahoo!" Suddenly Manson found himself reeling backwards through the air. As he rolled to a stop on the wet pavement he looked up. Black*Star stood proudly in between Manson and the woman. He held a large katana level to his chest; thin black lines tattooed his face and body. "Alright you creep prepare to face the wrath of the mighty Black*Star!" Manson stood up slowly. Behind Blackstar two other figures came running up. Maka and Crona came to a halt behind him, both with weapons in hand. Crona bent down and offered a hand to the young woman who had fallen to the ground. "Are you alright miss?" He asked gently. The woman could only nod as she took the offered hand. "You should leave now. We'll handle this guy." Crona gave a small smile to the woman. "Thank you." Was all she said before turning and running out of the alley.

"Do you think for once you could have tried following the plan Blackstar?" Maka asked from behind him. "The great Black*Star doesn't follow plans, he makes them!" Blackstar cheered definitively while the black lines on his face receded. Maka readied Soul for attack and slid into a battle stance. "Right so what would the new plan be?" She asked sarcastically. "We kick his butt!" At that moment Blackstar rushed forward at Manson, arm reared back in preparation for a soul strike. Manson however flipped over the incoming attack leaving Blackstar to continue moving forward. As Manson landed back on his feet he looked around himself. The three meisters now formed a triangle around him and held their weapon partners at the ready.

"So the Academy sent three brats after me this time. I feel honored." Manson mocked them. The three teens stayed quiet and eyed the pre-kishin warily. Manson looked over to Maka and gave her an evil grin. "I told you last time that if we met again I'd kill you. Now get ready to die!" Manson lifted his Morningstar off his shoulder and swung it down hard at Maka. However, Maka nimbly dodged the attack and ran out to her left. "Stick to the plan guys!" She yelled out. Crona and Maka formed up in front of Manson dodging his attacks. "Tsubaki, kusarigama mode." Blackstar whispered. "Right." In an intense flash of light Tsubaki shifted from her katana form into the sickle and chain. Manson however was too preoccupied with the other two meisters to notice.

"Hold still you little shits." Manson grumbled. As he reared his weapon back for another attack he unexpectedly got in close to Crona. Crona couldn't back away fast enough and Manson sent the frail boy reeling to the side with a strong left hook. Then Manson slammed the spiked ball of his weapon down on him midair. A pained expression overtook Crona's face as the force of the impact caused him to cough up dark, black blood. "Crona!" Maka yelled out. Manson lifted his weapon off the battered swordsman and turned his attention to Maka. "Haaah!" Manson yelled out and swung the Morningstar up over his head to strike at the young meister. Maka dodged swiftly to the left just before the bludgeon came crashing down where she stood. "I'm gonna enjoy crushing your skull girly!" Manson growled. Manson then pulled back on the chain of his weapon and deftly swung it around in front of himself in lethal arcs.

Manson began advancing towards Maka, still swinging the Morningstar in deadly figure eights. Maka was forced to retreat, dodging the swiftly rotating ball. "Damnit, I wish I could just get in there and take a swing at him." Maka whispered after back flipping a good distance away from Manson. The blade of Soul's weapon form flashed with a metallic sheen and his face appeared in the scythe. "No way, we need to stick to the plan. If you try to attack him directly that phantom will just get a clear shot to rip his claws into your soul." Maka frowned at that before dodging another of Manson's attacks. Suddenly Maka ran up the side of the back wall to a building. She propelled herself off it and over Manson's head, twirling around in the air to face Manson as she landed. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Manson snarled as he turned around. He lifted his arm up high letting his momentum carry the weighted ball backwards in preparation to slam it back down on the scythe meister. Just as he was about to bring it down though, his arm froze.

Confusion flashed over Manson's ugly face. He tried pulling his right arm forward, but it kept meeting resistance. Manson turned his head and saw that the chain of his weapon was taught. "Haha! The mighty Black*Star has you right where he wants you." Manson looked further back. A few feet behind him stood Blackstar, holding back tight on the chain of the Morningstar with Tsubaki's own chain in his two hands. Blackstar then pulled back hard on Manson's chain so that he was holding it. Then he quickly threw Tsubaki's sickle forward to wrap around Manson's right wrist. Blackstar now held both chains in his two arms, securing Manson's right side. "Why you little…" Manson growled. He attempted to turn around but once again found himself held in place; however this time it was his left arm that was restrained. He looked down at his other arm and saw it was wrapped by some strange, black, rubber like material which sprouted upward from the concrete. "What the hell is this?!" He roared as he flexed his arms trying to rip through the black substance. "Ragnorak's" Manson's head swiveled to face in front of him where Crona was getting up, sword in hand. "Bloody Tethers." Crona said ominously while lifting his sword in front of him. "Byahahahaha!" Ragnorak laughed, his bright red lips grinning widely.

Manson shook in furious anger, thrashing every which way to break free of his restraints. But they held tight, pinning Manson's arms down. "Finally, now we end this." Maka said confidently as she raised Soul up into an offensive stance. "Haha! You think you can kill me this easy?!" Manson shouted insanely. He once again strained against the ties holding his arms down. The black blood holding his left wrist stretched with the tension. Behind Manson, Blackstar skidded against the ground, the chains pulling him forward. "Maka if you're going to do something you better do it now." Blackstar ground out as he struggled to hold Manson's right arm in place. Maka gazed at the kishin egg with slit eyes. Suddenly she ran forward, quickly covering the short distance in between her and Manson. She leapt high up into the air, becoming a black silhouette against the full moon shining in between the clouds. The bonds around his arms and wrists tightened to prevent him from trying to dodge. "Die Kishin scum!" Maka yelled out as she leveled Soul's blade to deliver a horizontal slash. As Maka fell closer to Manson she could make out a maniacal grin on his face. She put that out of her mind as she readied herself for the killing blow.

A sound of tearing cloth and ripping flesh was heard. Maka hovered still in midair, held up by Manson's arm. A third arm which sprouted out from his left side near his rib cage. All three meisters stared in shock at the appendage which appeared out of nowhere. The extra limb held Maka aloft by her arm, Soul's blade stopped just short of piercing Manson's torso. The hand dropped Maka momentarily letting her fall down so it could settle its grip on her neck. Manson held her in a vice-like grip causing Maka to choke and sputter. Then Manson brought the choking girl close to his face. Maka could smell the rotten stench of his breath. Manson smirked evilly as he looked Maka straight in the eyes. Manson leaned into her ear. "I told you I wasn't that easy to kill." He whispered sinisterly.

Suddenly Maka was flung hard against a brick wall lining the alley. A grunt of pain escaped her lips and she slid to the ground in a heap. "Maka!" Blackstar yelled out in worry. But because Blackstar shifted his attention to Maka he failed to notice the grey shadow creeping up behind him. By the time he noticed the chain in his hand was slack it was too late. The grey shadow had impaled the blue haired ninja through his back. "Gaaaaahhh!" Blackstar convulsed in pain, dropping the chains he was holding. "Black*Star!" Tsubaki yelled out still in weapon form, before Manson shrugged his shoulders and she clattered to the ground. With his right arm now free Manson ripped and tore at the bindings on his left arm. Crona stood nervously as Manson broke free of his bloody tethers. Crona was unsure of what to do as both his friends were hurting.

"Hey!" Crona turned over his sword. "Don't just stand there like a numbskull! Go get him!" Ragnorak chided. "R-right. Ragnorak Scream Resonance!" His determination rekindled, Crona held his blade out in front of him. "Gupi. Byaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Ragnorak's shrill cry echoed in the narrow lane. His powerful scream vibrated the very air. Manson who had started advancing towards Crona was stopped in his tracks by the vocal assault. But Manson then covered his ears with his two normal arms while a fourth arm burst out from his side. With his ears now protected Manson charged forward and delivered a roundhouse punch to Crona. His auditory attack stopped instantly as Crona was sent flying through the air like a ragdoll to land in a dumpster.

While Manson dealt with Crona, the phantom weapon still had both of his claws embedded in Blackstar. Blackstar was on his knees, face upturned in pain. He could feel the energy of his soul being leeched away. More than anything though he felt tremendous pain. _"Come on Black*Star. You can beat this. This pain is nothing."_ He thought to himself. Blackstar struggled to rise up and to ignore the pain he felt. His muscles no longer spasmed and his teeth were gritted in concentration. Yet just as he was about to rise up, Blackstar saw the grey phantom phase completely through him. That was when the pain doubled and Blackstar could not fight against it any longer. He fell flat to the ground, eyes screwed shut in agony. The phantom, after passing through the young meister, glided over to the brick wall where Maka was just beginning to stir.

Maka drifted out of her stupor just as the phantom reached her. Her eyes went wide with fear as she realized what was about to happen. Then she screamed as the phantom passed straight through her as well. Once again she felt that same paralyzing agony from before. She curled in on herself as she experienced the same intense fear from her nightmare. The phantom weapon ghosted back over to Manson. "_No, no, damnit."_ Maka thought to herself. "_I failed again!"_ She felt the pain beginning to fade slowly away. She twitched her muscles as feeling came back to her limbs. "_At least I was right. The second time around the pain goes away much quicker."_ Maka squinted through one eye and saw Manson, with his freakish four arms, walking towards her.

"How… You…" Maka gasped out in pain. "Didn't you know? I was one of Arachne's freakish experiments, until she up and died that is." Manson leaned over Maka, a devilish grin on his face. His two pairs of arms began cracking their knuckles. "But I guess it doesn't matter now though does it? I'm going to rip you limb from limb." Manson began to hunch over and Maka tried desperately to squirm away. Maka turned her face away just as he was about to pick her up. Unexpectedly though, Maka heard a strange sort of hiss. Manson apparently heard it too as he grunted a 'huh' before suddenly jumping back.

Before Maka could even wonder what happened, something large crashed into the ground right where Manson was standing a second earlier. A man crouched in front of her, debris scattered around his feet and steam rising off his gloved fist. As he began to stand up Maka sighed in relief as she recognized Killik. From out of the sky also dropped Ox Ford and Kim. All three of them surrounded Manson with weapons at the ready. "What… took you… guys so long?" Maka asked. "Well, we would have been here sooner if **someone** hadn't suggested we search opposite sides of the city." Ox said while he leveled his spear at Manson. Maka didn't respond to the jibe and instead turned her head to look back at the enemy. Manson once again stood in the center of a triangle formation, yet he still had a bloodthirsty expression on his face. Maka struggled to stand up; she leaned on the pole of Soul's scythe for support. As she rose she noted that Crona had already recovered and joined the other three meisters with his sword in hand. Blackstar however, was still kneeling on the ground in agony with Tsubaki at his side.

When Maka finally found her feet she suddenly heard the same strange hissing noise from before. She looked up and saw Manson's phantom seeming to whisper in his ear. The phantom was half concealed in Manson's shadow and appeared transparent, only visible at a certain angle. "Soul…" Maka whispered to her weapon. "Yeah, I see it." Soul replied just as confused as his meister. Suddenly the phantom retreated back into the darkness of Manson's shadow. Manson's four fists clenched. "Alright, I know when I'm beaten." He said eyeing the five meisters surrounding him. Suddenly he back-flipped right over Kim's head, twisting in midair and then rolling into a four handed cartwheel. "After him!" Ox yelled. Manson ran quickly and turned down another alleyway to his right. The young meisters gave chase but as soon as they rounded the corner they all skidded to a stop. "He's gone." Soul whispered in weapon form. Manson had completely vanished down the narrow pass.

**Back at the mountain…**

Ten minutes. He had said it would only take ten minutes. Yet there he was sitting in the exact same spot a full hour later. Kid paced back and forth, symmetrically, in the living area. Liz was sitting on the couch painting her nails while Patty sat on the floor next to her coloring in a coloring book. Kid checked his watch, frowning as he realized how late it was. He looked back up to check on Daniel, for what must have been the twentieth time. Daniel was still sitting cross legged in the adjacent 'meditation room' as he had called it. Kid nearly growled at the man for taking so long. Although he did have to give him credit for sitting in the exact center of the room. Kid resumed pacing back and forth in the living room.

"_Honestly, what does Father see in this man?" _Kid pondered. Kid had monitored Danny Grey's soul ever since he had started meditating. So far though, he hadn't seen anything remotely special. The man's soul looked like that of an ordinary human. There was nothing to suggest that he was any more powerful than an ordinary meister. For possessing an 'enlightened' soul, this man didn't seem all that special.

"_Still, he must be somewhat powerful; otherwise Father wouldn't have sent us to get him." _Kid thought. At that moment Kid noticed Daniel take a particularly deep breath, which stopped him from any further musings. Kid waited in anticipation for Danny to rise from the floor so they could finally be on their way. But Daniel remained still and fell into silence once more. Kid scowled in anger as he realized that Daniel was not getting up. "That's it, I've had enough!" Kid exclaimed in frustration. His two weapons looked up in surprise as their meister had been just as silent as Danny for the past hour. Kid stomped into the meditation room to stand right in front of Daniel who still sat in silence on the ground, seemingly unaware of Death the Kid's intrusion. "Mr. Grey I have let you indulge in your ritual for at least an hour. I thought you would rise on your own, but clearly that is not going to happen. I insist that you end this now so that we may begin our trip back to Death City." Kid stood with arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at the monk.

Slowly Daniel began to open his eyes, as if waking up from a long nap. His head tilted up as he met Kid's eyes and frowning face. Behind him the two girls were watching them, their heads peeking out from the side of the door frame. Daniel smiled up at Kid as if he wasn't glaring at him. "I'm sorry did you say something?" He asked innocently. Kid resisted the urge to face-palm and instead took a deep breath. "I was saying that you've been sitting here for over an hour. I think it's high time that we leave." Kid said again. A look of confusion passed over Daniel's face. "Wow it's been an hour already?" Daniel began to stand and stretch from his seat on the ground. "I tend not to notice how much time passes when I meditate. You should have come and gotten me sooner." He said as he stretched his legs. Kid growled angrily and pulled at his hair before slumping over and walking out of the room. "Let's just go please." He said in a defeated tone.

In a few minutes time the group had packed up and left the temple behind. The same mountain trail they had traversed on the way up seemed vastly different this morning. The snow deposited by the previous day's storm had almost completely melted. As they descended further down the mountain, more and more foliage lined the path to either side of the travelers. In the front of the group was Kid followed by Patty and Liz, and then Danny bringing up the rear. The trip had been silent for the most part when Liz turned to Danny. "So how long have you lived up there?" she asked half facing him. Danny put his hand to his chin in thought. "Oh about six or seven years I would say." Patty then turned to him as well. "What made you want to be all by yourself?" She asked with childish curiosity. "Oh I wasn't always alone. There used to be other monks who resided at the temple. In fact they were the ones who taught me most of what I know today." Daniel explained. "Before I came to the temple I was a lost young man, searching for answers to questions I couldn't even articulate. But then the monks taught me the ways of the ancient gurus and yogis, the first of mankind to truly study the soul and its interactions with the mind and body. In that temple I achieved what you would call 'enlightenment' as the monks helped me find the answers inside of myself." Daniel elaborated.

The two weapons looked back at each other, seeing amazement in each other's faces. Kid who had not really been listening to the conversation suddenly decided to jump in. "Mr. Grey, I've been meaning to ask you about this so called enlightened soul of yours. My father explained it to me as a perfect harmony of mind, body, and soul, is that correct?" Kid asked without turning to face him. "Yes, um, that's correct…" Daniel muttered distractedly. "I see, so what kind of abilities does that grant you? My father described you as a very powerful meister. I would like to know more about your capabilities and your research on the human soul." Kid continued walking on, expecting a response from the man. However, after a good few seconds of silence he received none. Kid turned around puzzled. "Mr. Grey?" He asked to the wind. The man who had been following them mere moments before had vanished. "That's not good." Liz sighed. "Quick spread out and try to find him." Kid commanded.

The trio backtracked up the trail searching for signs of the monk. It wasn't too long before a shrill cry from Patty caught their attention. "Hey guys I found him!" Liz and Kid both ran over to where Patty's voice came from. She stood slightly off the path in a patch of grass. "Where is he?" Kid asked. Patty simply lifted her arm and pointed in front of her. As Kid's gaze followed hers he saw a strange sight. Danny was squatting in the slush and grass, seeming to be huddled over something. "Mr. Grey what are you doing?" Kid asked. Daniel looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Come look." He said simply. The trio walked over to where Daniel huddled on the ground. In front of him was a white flower, rows of yellow sticking out of its center. Purple stripes ran down its petals to the stem where the bulb was also purple. A bit of snow covered the top part of the flower. "A flower? You stopped following us because you saw a flower?" Kid asked incredulously. Daniel looked up at Kid with a slight frown. "I couldn't stop myself. I saw some melting snow fall off the tree branch and crush this little beauty. I just had to come over and brush it off." Daniel said gesturing to the flower as he wiped the snow off it. As the snow fell off the flower, the little plant seemed to stand up tall and proud. "Aww, it's so pretty!" Patty beamed. "I don't care how pretty it is. We're late and we're leaving right now." Kid said before grabbing the back of Daniel's shirt and all but dragging him back to the trail.

After more than half an hour of hiking the group finally descended the mountain and made it to the small town at its base. From there Kid insisted that they head straight to the train station. They made it to the station without any further mishaps. Although to Kid's chagrin, every passerby they saw either greeted, waved, or bowed to the monk who returned the gestures in kind. Thankfully though Daniel did not engage in conversation with any of the villagers, and kept moving. When they finally reached the train station Kid purchased four new tickets for the next train, seeing as how they missed the first one. "This is exactly the kind of thing I didn't want happening." Kid complained. "If we had left earlier we wouldn't have missed the first train, and we wouldn't be stuck here waiting around." Kid plopped down next to Liz on a bench and put his chin in his hands. "Relax Kid, we only have to wait ten minutes." Liz said. Kid simply sighed in response. "Patience is a virtue as they say." Danny quipped from beside Liz.

Soon the sound of an approaching engine reached their ears. The long grey train sped along the tracks toward the station, spewing a trail of smoke behind it. As it pulled into the station a gust of wind blew about it. The loud screech of brakes filled the air as the train decelerated and came to a stop. "That's our train. Let's go." Kid said. The group walked over to the passenger cars and climbed the steps into the train single file with Daniel being last. The group walked through the aisles and passed through at least three cars before Kid found an 'acceptable' booth to sit in. "We're finally on our way home." Liz said as she sat down on the cushioned bench. Kid was about to put away his bags when he noticed something was missing. "Where's Daniel?" He asked slowly. Patty and Liz looked at each other and then to the door of the booth. "I don't know. He was right behind us when we got on the train." Liz said.

Kid frowned before getting up. "You two stay here. I'm going to go look for him." Kid said as he exited the booth. He looked down both sides of the aisle seeing no sign of their companion. He backtracked to the car where they got on, walking against an oncoming crowd of other passengers. _"I have a pretty good feeling that I know what he's up to."_ Kid thought. When Kid reached the first car he found that his hunch was correct. Standing right outside the train car, holding the door was Daniel. "After you. Welcome aboard. Go right ahead." Daniel beamed as he held open the door for passenger after passenger. Kid sighed in annoyance and took a seat next to the window. He knew he wouldn't be able to pull the man away from holding that door open and so decided to wait until he was finished. Kid looked out the window to his right where he saw a line of at least fifty people. One thing he knew for certain was that this was going to be a long wait.

**A/N: Chapter 5 is finished and I'm already at work on chapter 6. This chapter took me a while mostly cause it was a lot of characterization. The next chapter shouldn't be as hard to write. Once again if you read it please leave a review. **


End file.
